


To Keep Him Frae The Rain

by CasGetYourShotgun



Series: Pacific Rim Summer Bingo 2020 [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Ballad 39: Tam Lin, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fairytale/Mythology AU, Guilt, M/M, Newton Geiszler Recovery Arc, Post-Movie: Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), Self-Hatred, The Drift (Pacific Rim)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:54:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24612595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasGetYourShotgun/pseuds/CasGetYourShotgun
Summary: The Precursors try to shake him loose, but Hermann Gottlieb holds tight.
Relationships: Newton Geiszler & Hermann Gottlieb, Newton Geiszler/Hermann Gottlieb
Series: Pacific Rim Summer Bingo 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1779406
Kudos: 13
Collections: Pacific Rim Bingo 2020, Tam Lin Fan Lin





	To Keep Him Frae The Rain

**Author's Note:**

> The LOCCENT: You can choose to write a fairytale or mythology AU for Pacific Rim Bingo if you like.  
> Me: Okay, so Tam Lin but sci-fi. Got it.
> 
> This is more specifically based on version B, and my title is taken directly from the ballad.
> 
> Shout-out to Argus for proofreading!

The Drift does not feel anything like its name would imply; it is not drifting, not floating, not calm, but a fierce storm that rages around him, trying to drive him out, break the connection. But Hermann braces himself against the maelstrom, holding fast against the wind and rain until the Drift stabilises and he can see the world around him again, the techs and Rangers in the room with him, and the Precursors sitting across the table from him wearing Newton's skin. 

They hiss and spit, and say as Newton that they're nothing to each other but enemies, that he doesn't want to be saved if that rescue comes from Hermann. But Hermann remembers their old correspondence, the fact that they'd always cared for each other even when their relationship was at its worst, the affection he had felt in their first Drift; he knows that this is not Newton, and holds onto their alignment, and the Precursors cannot shake him.

They snarl and snap, and say as Newton that it's too late, their plans are in motion and cannot be halted now, they're so far ahead of humanity and Newton will stand with progress against the humans trying so desperately to claw back whatever lead they had. But Hermann knows that the Precursors haven't won yet, that humanity has foiled their plans twice already, that his friend would never place advancement above morality; he knows that this is not Newton, and holds onto their alignment, and the Precursors cannot shake him.

They burn and scream, and say as Newton that he doesn't deserve to be saved, that he's gone too far to turn back and deserves to be left to rot in this cell, and this is not as false as it should be because the last time Hermann saw Newton he sounded broken, because he couldn't fight them alone. But Hermann will not leave him alone again, and hopes desperately that Newton would not choose this horror over the chance to atone; he knows that this is not Newton, and holds onto their alignment, and the Precursors cannot shake him. 

And Newton seizes and bleeds as the thought-tendrils are shaken from his mind, and the techs race to disconnect the neural bridge, and someone calls for a medic, but soon enough the worst is over, and Newton sits, shaking, wrapped in a shock blanket, drinking cool, clear water, and stripped of all but the most residual alien influence.

This is Newton, and Hermann has brought him home.


End file.
